Navy Grog - How to Make the Classic Rum & Honey Tiki Cocktail

Here's how to make the classic Tiki drink the Navy Grog, which is made with Light Cuban-Style Rum, Dark Jamaican Rum, Demerara Rum, (or in this case, a Navy Strength combination of the two), Lime Juice, Grapefruit Juice, Honey Syrup, Soda Water and an Ice Cone for garnish. This is the 1941 Don the Beachcomber version. The other popular variation is the Trader Vic’s version.

The Trader Vic’s version uses the same combination of rums and citrus, but swaps the honey syrup and soda water for simple syrup and pimento dram. Some of the measurements are a little different as well, but it’s pretty close. The Trader Vic’s version is the one that Martin and Rebecca Cate feature in their book, Smuggler’s Cove. It’s also the version that Beachbum Berry fell in love with and that made him a dedicated, obsessive fanatic of tiki culture, which set him on a path to writing several books on the subject, opening his own tiki restaurant and selling some tiki gear that was hard to come by otherwise.

Because of this and the obsession it triggered in Berry, the Navy Grog is arguably the most important tiki drink in the canon of exotic cocktails. Berry is the reason for the tiki revival and his tireless efforts to research, reconstruct and resurrect the lost art of tiki cannot be overstated. Berry went above and beyond. He was the Indiana Jones to the raiders of the lost tiki. He collected notebooks, cracked codes, found hidden scraps of paper with recipes scrawled on them, he interviewed bartenders, coerced and cajoled widows and children of the godfathers of the tiki world and eventually was able to unearth a lot of the lost art of the tiki drink. Berry conquered all of those questions and we are enjoying the exotic fruit juices of his labor.

The name of this drink is an allusion to the British Royal Navy’s rum ration. In 1740, Admiral Edward Vernon, who was called “Old Grog” because he wore coats of the cheaper fabric, grogram, decided that the daily allotment of half a pint of full-strength (57% ABV) rum was too much, so he cut the ration with water. This mixture of rum and water became known as “grog”. Some 55 years later, citrus was also added to the daily rations.

Both Donn’s and Vic’s version used a blend of three rums, a light rum, a dark Jamaican rum and a Demerara (Guyanese) rum. For the Jamaican and Demerara, I’m using a Hamilton Navy Strength, a blend of the two. It is “60% Guyana rum at 154 proof and 40% Jamaican rum at 170 proof” and are slowly blended and stirred “for 48 hours before dilution to 114 proof.” This blend is not 50/50 like Donn’s recipe called for, but it works wonders in this drink. But be careful because this is going to be a strong one. Okole Maluna!

Recipe:
1 oz Light Rum
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz Demarara Rum
1 oz Honey Syrup
0.75 oz Lime Juice
0.75 oz Grapefruit Juice
0.75 oz Soda Water
garnish Ice Cone with straw
(instead of Jamaican and Demarara, I used 2 oz of a Navy Strength blend of both rums)

Add all ingredients (except ice cone) to a shaker. Shake with ice. Strain into Double Old Fashioned Glass over Ice Cone. Serve with straw through Ice Cone.

Music:
El Que Quiera Bailar 3 by Martin Landh
via Epidemic Sound

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Featured in this Episode:

Caña Brava 3 Year Rum

Hamilton Navy Strength Rum

Soda Siphon

Smuggler's Cove by Martin & Rebecca Cate

Potions of the Caribbean by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry

Bar Tools:

Beachbum Berry's Navy Grog Ice Cone Garnish Kit

Pilsner Glass

Chopsticks

Double Old Fashioned Glass

Bamboo Paper Straws

Cuisinart Citrus Juicer

Lewis Bag & Ice Mallet

[DjangoEdits]

I'm a bartender, a new one at that. Been working for about 4 months now and you have no idea how much I love your videos I'm a visual learner so I watch these videos like 10 times make the drinks at my bar and recommend them to my guests, great stuff here man hoping to become a great bartender one day, thanks for the help.

[CptWerQ]

Thank you again for making these videos! I often "suffer" the role of bartending for my friends since I picked cocktails as a hobby. Your videos are great and I always learn new stuff.

[kevincorvus]

As always sir, excellent video! Always love the history lessons.

[goesman]

Awesome mate, thank you very mutch for the recipe and for the trick with the pilsner glass

cheers

[ArtimusFreeman]

Another AMAZING video. As always, thank you for this education.

[fevereddreams]

you sir are lovely. thank you for all your hard work.

[avan]

This is a variation of traditional Caribbean rum punch, which is in turn based on the old water and rum "grog". The recipe itself is an old maritime rhyme; "One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, and four of weak." One part sour (usually lime or any sour citrus juice) two of sweet (two parts of any sweet will do although usually a less refined sugar or sugar syrup is used) three of strong (this is the rum of course; you can get creative with your mix but tradition doesn't much care) and four of weak (usually water, although tea was pretty commonly used as well). Typically some spice was added as well, usually nutmeg or some blend of mulling spices. This is good chilled but it's also really good at room temperature or even warmed.

[ZZenoXX]

I've had this on my to-do list for a while now, finally got around to it. Great stuff!

[TRSmith-xbdg]

Man, It is so sad that Tiki is so much more loved and appreciated on the mainland, and not here on O'ahu. Don created the International Market Place (re-opened in 2016, with the same banyan tree he used as an office still there). He helped create the Hawai'ian tourist industry (to the dislike of many locals, but fueling the economy). There are few Tiki bars here, and none, to my knowledge, with the attention to history and craftsmanship that you exhibit in your vids. You give more love to him, than the island he loved. Thanks for the great history and vids! Hopefully, at some point, bartenders, and restaurentures, will love him in Hawai'i, the way you, and the mainland, does.

[nicholasdiak]

This one looks like a lot of fun to do!

[legio]

Totally love this channels and have been trying your tiki drinks.

[ibnkhaldoun]

i mentioned the qb cooler to you in another video, but try this side by side with that - it's an interesting contrast. that one uses 5 of these ingredients and soda water too, but with a blender & crushed ice. similar but different character, definitely.

i should do a side by side with both navy grogs too. ugh tiki's a rabbit hole

[spiffinz]

Delicious! I've always only ever just mixed rum water and ice for breakfast drink, called it grog

[kmart]

Love a classic navy grog, it was one of the first tiki drinks I ever made. One question though: where the heck do you manage to find white grapefruits? I've never even seen one so I'm stuck with ruby red, and frankly I feel like I'm not really getting the full effect of grapefruit based drinks.

[TubesAXk]

I made a couple of them this week, and from my experience, the real trick is in adding just the right amount of honey and mixing it or shaking it at the right time. The general drink has a very citrus-y taste and it can be kind of sour to a newcomer if it isn't balanced with just the right amount of honey. The honey will mix best if it is warmed and well mixed in before adding any ice.

[ShooterSF]

I've never seen a recipe shake soda water. I'd usually laugh at the suggestion but you're no amateur cocktail maker. Is that definitely the proffered method?

[oskarvonreuenthal]

Question for fellow viewers: would you guys use the straw when drinking this beverage? I only ever use the straw with highballs, snowy drinks, or anything in a large mug. Is this weird or normal?

[dag]

Tried making this and it was tasty. Question re the soda water, I don't have a soda syphon, and used store bought soda water, which as you probably know has added minerals and I think salts which imparts a taste. Would that be the correct water to use, or would seltzer water (without the added minerals) be better?

[Noursbear]

This is tonight’s Tiki cocktail choice but I did opt for Trader Vic’s version (or close but with no soda but Dram but made ice cones for the Don touch) cheers

[afinecupofcoffee]

Do you think it would be possible to make the ice cone with crushed ice and paper snow cone cups? I was thinking of doing a navy grog for an upcoming tiki party and thought it would be fun but not mandatory to do the ice cone.